<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Gone by Luna_Roe</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22454992">Gone</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Luna_Roe/pseuds/Luna_Roe'>Luna_Roe</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>A Witcher and a Druid [11]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Wiedźmin | The Witcher (Video Game)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, F/M, Fear, Love, Missing, Mystery, Race Against Time</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-01-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-01-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-04-28 16:06:47</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,163</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22454992</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Luna_Roe/pseuds/Luna_Roe</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Geralt rushes against a ticking clock. Will he make it in time?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia/Original Female Character(s)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>A Witcher and a Druid [11]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1600168</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>42</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Interesting Character and/or Interesting Relationship Development</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Gone</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>First of all, I want to thank everyone that has stuck with this so far! I'm in college so my updates aren't able to be on a set schedule. But I am so grateful for everyone that has stuck with it thus far. No long to go now. Again, thank you!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>Novigrad: Passiflora Four Days Since Attack</em>
</p>
<p>I had spoken to the girl about her medical history. It was not her that had the abnormality, but her sister. Her sister had been diagnosed… by the same physician that diagnosed me. Geralt departed that night to go to the physician all the way in Vizima. Valdimar, the kind physician that was helping nurse the girl back to health, had to return to his practice, and so I was on my own to mend her the rest of the way.</p>
<p>The poor girl was still bed-ridden, and to be honest I was happy for that. The likelihood she would move and rip a suture was quite high. So, sedated and asleep she stayed. I had a cot brought into the room for me, so I didn’t have the leave her side, just in case. And so, for yet another night, I was settling in on the cot at the foot of the bed.</p>
<p>~~</p>
<p>
  <em>Somewhere Unknown Five Days Since Attack</em>
</p>
<p>Still not sign of rejection. It was time to move to the next step: Syncing the cycle. It would be crucial that he find a way to make it work. He would wait one more day to be certain before moving on, but things were looking up.</p>
<p>“Sir, test subject 2 shows no sign of rejection.”</p>
<p>So, two different test subjects were showing signs of the transplant taking. No rejection in sight. It was marvelous! Now he had one to test and a spare just in case. He waved the lackey off as he went to take notes. If things went well, he could move on to step two and then three by next week!</p>
<p>~~</p>
<p>
  <em>Novigrad: Passiflora Six Days Since Attack</em>
</p>
<p>I was going over the notes that Geralt had taken. I had offered to look over what he had for his other contract. Perhaps a fresh set of eyes would find the link he was missing. Six missing women over the course of the winter. Nothing was of interest until I looked at the sketches of the women. They all had been seen by the same physician in Vizima.</p>
<p>Stirring behind me make me jump slightly. Quickly I hid the notes back in the folder they had been in and turned around. The look on the girl’s face told me she was still groggy, the herbs I had given her probably didn’t help either. She was no doubt high off her ass. She began mumbling something. I caught a few words that alarmed me. I stood and walked to her bedside and knelt down. She kept mumbling and finally I heard what she was trying to say.</p>
<p>“He kept saying something.” She managed to say.</p>
<p>“What did he say?” I asked her, hoping it wasn’t too bad.</p>
<p>She slowly closed her eyes as she said, “He said ‘I have to make her whole’.” And then, she was asleep again.</p>
<p>I stood up, shaky, and my breath caught in my throat. The walls of the room seemed to close in on me as thoughts raced through the confines of my mind. Was he still here? Was he watching? Why had he attacked that girl? Was I really the object of this… act? Sweat beaded on my forehead as I attempted to quietly walk from the room to the balcony. Was that safe? Should I stay in the room?</p>
<p>Before I could think more on it, I was on the balcony. At some point my breathing must have returned because a few minutes passed of me wondering who was wheezing in panic. It was me. The scream the ripped from my throat – seemingly skipping the normal route through my mouth – as a well-intentioned John placed a hand on my shoulder was deafening.</p>
<p>Clamping a hand over my mouth, terrified of my outburst, I was frozen in place. What was I to say to the man? Sorry, but I just found out the man that attacked me years ago is the same one that attacked the poor girl that had gotten butchered a week ago? NO!</p>
<p>He noted the room I had exited and with an understanding look retracted his hand and said, “Do you need anything?”</p>
<p>I nodded, though I had no idea what it was my brain thought I needed.</p>
<p>The man smiled reassuringly, “How about I call for some ale. Calm your nerves.” I nodded to him and he told me to wait in the room I had come from; he would bring it to me himself. And then, he said, “Is there someone I can contact for you?”</p>
<p>Without hesitation, I said, “Geralt of Rivia, he’s in Vizima.”</p>
<p>He nodded and promised to return soon.</p>
<p>~~</p>
<p>
  <em>Somewhere Unknown: 2 Days Later</em>
</p>
<p>The subjects took well to Step 1. Step 2 saw subject one going septic, but subject two was stable. Though he had hoped both subjects would pass Step 2, he was happy with what he managed to get. Step 3 would be paramount to what happened next. If it worked, then he was ready for his true intent.</p>
<p>A knock sounded and in came one of his lackeys. Instantly he became enraged, “WHAT?!”</p>
<p>The lackey shrunk slightly and said, “Sir, <em>she</em> is in Novigrad.”</p>
<p>“What?” Came a softer question from the still enraged man.</p>
<p>The lackey nodded and added, “Your man there says she is caring for the donor.”</p>
<p>The man sat back at his desk and waved off the lackey. He knew where she was, for the time being. Perhaps he could keep an eye on her, that way when he was ready, he wouldn’t have to go searching for her.</p>
<p>~~</p>
<p>
  <em>Vizima: Three Days Later – Eleven Since Attack</em>
</p>
<p>He had gotten a lot of information from the physician. He had kept detailed records from every stage of his career. He even remembered Val. But what stuck out to him was that the notes began to show a pattern. It started with a woman the physician saw prior to Val. She did not have the abnormality. Then Val, who had it. Then, approximately seven months later, a woman without the abnormality. And then one with it. And so on, and so forth. There were dozens. <em>Dozens</em>. Each came out of the encounter missing their uterus, ovaries intact. The cuts were always along the lines of striation, and they were always with surgical precision. The physician did not see any of the women after they healed from the attacks. The women, understandably so, left far from where they had been attacked and started a new life.</p>
<p>There was something that wasn’t adding up. It was as if there was a detail he was missing. This was more information that he had ever hoped to get for this. The physician remembered treating Val. He was very forthcoming once he found that Val was helping a young girl that had suffered the same fate. The stoic Witcher will never forget what the physician had said when asked why he was so willing to hand over his notes.</p>
<p>
  <em>‘I spent quite a bit of time with Valaria during her recovery. When I asked if she wanted to know what happened to her attacker she said, ‘Knowing won’t undo the damage done.’ And she asked, instead, for me to walk her through what I did to save her. Instead of seeking vengeance, she sought to understand.’ </em>
</p>
<p>It sounded like her. It was just like Val to not want blood. She had been right; nothing was going to fix what had been taken from her.</p>
<p>A knock sounded to his ears. He turned the papers over to hide what they contained and then called for the person to enter. In came a messenger that looked embarrassed. He handed the letter out and bowed his head, “I apologize for the lateness of this letter. You are a hard man to find.”</p>
<p>The Witcher was confused until he noticed where the letter had come from: Novigrad. The messenger left, closing the door behind him. Geralt sat back down as he opened the letter. The writer did not name themselves, but the information was worrying.</p>
<p>
  <em>Geralt of Rivia,</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Valaria requests your presence at the Passiflora in Novigrad. She seemed to have quite a scare when I came upon her. No idea what it was, sadly. She has not left the room of the girl that was attacked since I came upon her. </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>She requested that I contact you for her. She seems truly terrified.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Sincerely, </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>A Concerned John</em>
</p>
<p>Geralt folded the letter and stuck it in the file with the physician’s notes. Something about it seemed like it belonged there. Val must have found something. That was the only reason she would have had someone else call for him. He needed to leave immediately, and luckily, he always packed light.</p>
<p>~~</p>
<p>
  <em>Somewhere Unknown: Same Day</em>
</p>
<p>They would see if Stage 2 took and could move to Stage 3. It would take a while, time had to work its magic now. But he was hopeful. So hopeful, in fact, that he felt a bit bold. Snapping his fingers to alert the closest lackey, he said, “It’s time we retrieved her.”</p>
<p>“Sir?” Came the confused voice of the lacky, and the others looked just as confused.</p>
<p>Sighing slowly, he inhaled and said through gritted teeth, “Send word to our man in Novigrad that I want her. Both of them, actually. I would like to compare them.” He then waved them off. He wanted to be alone to go over the events of late. He had found the key to a successful Stage 1. Stage 2 seemed to be going well. Stage 3, with any luck, would be the longest and most fruitful of all stages.</p>
<p>He walked to his desk and pulled a locket out of the drawer. He only ever took the trinket out when he was alone. For inside it was a side of him he would share with no one. Inside was a portrait, miniature, of the woman that had been his intended. Opening it with a click, he sighed and whispered, “Do not worry, my dear, for I will make you whole again.”</p>
<p>~~</p>
<p>
  <em>Novigrad: Passiflora: Four Days Since Letter – Fifteen Since Attack</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>A knock sounded on the door. Aside from the kind John from the three days prior, no one had called. Though the sound frightened me, I stifled the fear back down my throat and rushed to the door. Geralt had made excellent time. No doubt he had pushed Roach through the nights as well – poor thing. </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Opening it, with an eye on the young girl behind me, I began with, “Geralt, I’m sorry for calling you so much.” I turned my head to look at my Witcher, “I was frightened. It really is…” I paused. For in the door was not Geralt, but the John from earlier. He loomed above me and something about him told me to run. </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Someone wants to see you.” He sneered. I attempted to slam the door shut, summon any sort of magic to help me, think of where I had a weapon… no time. In a flash the door splintered to a thousand pieces as he kicked it in response to my shutting it. One step inside and he had a fist full of my hair. His arm tensed and I found myself flying towards the wall. And then… black.</em>
</p>
<p>He stood there, looking at the horrible aftermath of a short-lived battle. The madam of the Passiflora speaking with the guards, yelling more like it. The girl and Val were gone. She was screaming at them, demanding an answer as to why they were not watching the grounds.</p>
<p>The scent of blood was unmistakable. The spot on the wall was telling. Someone’s face had been rammed into it… with considerable force. The entirety of the notes were gone as well. In their place was a single note. It was angering. It simply read, ‘You lose’. So, whoever it was thought of this whole thing as a game. Was it all to get Val? Or was the girl the target, but Val refused to let them take her?</p>
<p>Just as he began to follow the scent of Jasmine, her favorite flower, he was interrupted by a guard. The man stood near him and said, “Look, we cannot go traipsing around to find some strumpet and herbalist of no consequence. If this is solved, it’ll be up to you.”</p>
<p>Geralt glared at the man and said, “Ever think that’s why no one trusts the guards here?” Then, moving to follow the scent, he ignored the man and his insults that were spewing in response. Anger boiled in Geralt’s chest. Not for the guard’s words, but for the letter. He was being toyed with, just like Val had been. Fine, he would find her. And when he did, he would find the person responsible. And when he found <em>them</em>, well, the world would be down one more monster.</p>
<p>~~</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>